On April 9, applications for the "Do Your Own" business idea competition ended, as part of which small entrepreneurs from communities can receive up to UAH 100,000 to develop their own business.
In 2024, the MHP for Community Charitable Foundation, which organizes the competition, received 616 applications from entrepreneurs. Business ideas were submitted by entrepreneurs from 15 regions, including Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovs'k, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv.
16% of registered projects (99 applications) came from representatives of the veteran community. These are projects related to medical and rehabilitation services, craft production, and food security.
"We observe business activity of veterans in communities. Returning from the front line, dozens of them want to start their own business. Some of them want to do their own business related to rehabilitation or assistance to the military, others want to realize their postponed business dreams. The potential of such initiatives is extremely high. These are motivated entrepreneurs who know how to fight for what they love. That's why we are proud to be able to contribute to community development and support for veterans at the same time," comments Tatiana Volochai, Director of the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation.
In general, food security was the subject of the largest number of applications this year - 30%. In second place, the organizers registered projects related to the provision of consumer services - 16.8%. The top three included business ideas for craft production - 12%.
It is important that this year's participants will traditionally receive mentoring support and will be able to join the training program, which includes courses in marketing, business planning, accounting, etc. The Foundation will also cover the taxation costs of the grant.
"Usually, grantors or donors do not cover these costs. That is, the winner of the competition receives not 100 thousand UAH, but 80-85 thousand UAH after taxes. We have included an additional UAH 2 million in the competition budget to pay taxes for the winners so that they can start their own business with the full amount," emphasizes Volodymyr Panchenko, Head of the National Projects Department at MHP-Community.
An expert jury is currently evaluating the participants' business ideas. The winners will be announced on May 9.
We remind you that the Do Your Own grant competition for entrepreneurs in small towns and villages, with the financial support of MHP, was launched in 2016. Back then it was called "Village. Steps to Development". In 2022, the contest was renamed to Do Your Own and expanded its geography. Over the past two years, during the full-scale war, 154 entrepreneurs have been supported through the competition for a total of over UAH 15.2 million.